Bracket



Patented Oct. 18, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS O. SCH BADER, OF ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE DENT HARDWARE COMPANY, OF FULLERTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA Application filed July 9,

a plurality of brackets. In order to accom-v lish this result a right hand end bracket aving a stop or stops located to, limit the movement of the shelf at the right-hand side of the bracket .arm was used. Similarly, a left-hand bracket was provided including a stop locatedin the left-hand side of the bracketto limit the movement of the shelf there on. In addition, to the specially shaped end.

brackets, a center bracket was 'required that included no'stops whatever'so that the shelf could extend completely across the supporting surface of the bracket arm. 'It was, ac

cordingly, necessary to manufacture and maintain a stock of the three kinds of brackets in order to furnish the necessary brack- 2 ets to properly support a shelf or the like, and at the same time provide means to limit its movement'in both endwise directions.

This invention aims to provide. a bracket designed so that the same bracketmay be used effectively as a right-hand end, a lefthand end or a center bracket. 7 A further object of the invention is to provide a bracket for supporting a shelf in which the bracket arm is provided with a 5 pair of readily removable stops, either one or both of which may be removed in order to adapt it to serve effectively to support an elongated shelf and to limit its endwise movement in either direction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a bracket for supporting shelves of any character in which the bracket arm is provided with laterally spaced stops in the form of pins that are removably mounted in the bracket provided to'i'eceive them,

BRACKET 1931. Serial No. 549,771.

which pins may all be removed, or certain of them may be maintained in position, thus serving their stop function, which arrangement provides a neat-appearing, simple construction effectively serving any one of three purposes; namely, as a center bracket, a right-hand end bracket or a left-hand end bracket. i

Still further objects of the invention will appear as a description thereof proceeds with reference to the accompanying'drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an elongated shelf supported bythree brackets constituting anessential part of the present invention, thesuperfluous stops thereof beingremoved. 7 I Figure 2 is an elevational view of the bracket of the present invention. 1

Figure 3 is a plan view of thebracket illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is .a detail view showing one of the stop pins in side elevation.

Figure 5 is a section taken on the plane in dicated by the line 5-5 in Figure 3.

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures.

The bracket of the present invention is designed particularly to support elongated shelves and to limit the endwise movement of said shelves in both directions. Such shelves are used in refrigerators, show cases or the like, and in order that the brackets may serve the purpose of limiting the endwise movement it is essential that they be provided with stops that are disposed at the proper side of thebracket. This has heretofore necessitated a special left-hand end bracket, a special right-hand end bracket and a center bracket, over which the shelf extendedcompletely, and which, accordingly, required no stops. In order that a single, bracket may serve the three purposes just referred to by removal of extremely simple-stops, a bracket of a single form is disclosed that can be'used successfully to serve as a right-hand end, a lefthand end or a center bracket;

Preferably, the bracket that may be interchangeably used in any one of the positions noted consists of a supporting arm preferably integrally formed with a bracket securing portion 11 provided with an integral lug 12 designed to enter an opening in the supporting structure, and a perforation 13 provided to receive the shank of a suitable fastener extending therethrough and through an aligned opening in the supporting structure.

Preferably the arm 10 and the securing portion 11 are connected together by an integral brace 14; of any approved form. As shown, said brace may be straight or it may be orna- I mented in any desired way. Preferably, the arm 10, the securing portion 11 and the brace- 14 are formed of relatively narrow width,

and these portions of the bracket may be of uniform width as illustrated, or they may assume any other desired relative thicknesses. The end of the arm 10 remote from the portion 11 is provided with a stop 15 in the form of a lug projecting upwardly from and laterally of the arm 10. Said stop is, as illustrated in Figure 3, of a length exceeding the width of the arm 10 was to contact with the shelf supported on the bracketover a relatively wide area so that said shelf may be main tained firmly from movement in a direction along the length of the bracket. Said stop may, however, be made of any desired length. The height of the stop 15 is preferablyequal to the thickness of the shelf that is to be supported thereon. The bracket so far described may assume any form, since no part so far described constitutes apart of the present invention.

In order to provide the bracket with a relatively wide shelf supporting surface the arm 10 is, preferably, recessed as indicated at 16 and 17 and shelf supports 18 and 19 .are

" preferably secured in, and snugly fit said recesses. Rivets 20, or any other securing means may be used, or said supports may be formed integrally with the bracket arm. As indicated in Figure 3, the shelf supports 8 and 19 provide a bearing surface extending substantially laterally in both directions of the arm 10.

' Each of the supports 18 and 19 are provided with a pair of laterally spaced openings 21 and 22, the walls of which are preferably threaded. Stops that are, preferably, in the form of pins 23, of substantially uniform diameter and cross-sectional area from end to end, are provided for detachable association with said supports inthe openings 21 or 22 therein. In order to conveniently and Xedly secure the'stop pins 2 the ends thereof in tended for reception in the openings 21 or 22 are threaded as shown at 24, though any other convenient way of holding said pins in the openings may be employed.

The bracket is provided in its completed form with stop pins 23 removably mounted in each of the openings 21 and 22 of the bracket supports 18 and 19 and when so equipped, the bracket is capable of being used as a center bracket, a right-hand end or a left-hand end bracket by simply removing all or either the righthand or the left-hand pins forming a part thereof.

The bracket just described is used in the way clearly illustrated in Figure 1, in which brackets25, 26 and 27' are utilized to support; a shelf28, which may be of'glass or any other suitable material, in a refrigerator, show case or the like. Said brackets are attached to a supporting wall 29 of any form by means of bolts 30,- 31 and 32 entering the openings 13 in each of said brackets, and by causing the lugs 12 of each of said brackets to entermatching recesses in the supporting wall or structure. In the bracket 25, which is a left-hand end bracket the right-hand pins 23 are removed from the openings 21 while in the bracket 27 which is a right hand 'end bracketthe left-hand pins 23 are removed from the openings 22 in the bracketsupport. The center bracket 26 has all of its pins'removed from the openings 21 and 22 so that the shelf 28 may rest firmly on the shelf supports 18 and 19.

It will thus be seen a few readilyremovable inexpensive pins, the simple brac et of the present invention may be readily converted into a right-hand end, a left-handend or a center bracket. The removable stops may assume any other convenient form, other than pins, though the latter is preferred, because of the simplicity of the construction, and the ease with which pinsmay be applied and' removed.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and

all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

hat is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is: r

1. A shelf supporting bracket adapted for use as a right-hand, left-hand or center bracket comprising a bracket armeprovided that bythe removal of withmeans to facilitate its attachment to a support, and a pair of stops removably secured to lateral extensions of said arm in substantially spaced relation in a direction transverse to the length of said arm, whereby said bracket may be used as a center bracket by removal of both stops, as a right-hand bracket 

